Film festivals Trans received screenings at the 1998
Toronto International Film Festival, the 1999
Berlin Film Festival, the 1999
Sundance Film Festival, and the 1999
South By Southwest Film Festival.
Distribution Despite praise from critics and recognition at film festivals,
Trans had difficulty in securing distribution, and went a year after its 1998 Toronto festival screening without a deal. Robert Horton of
Film Comment wrote, "Given the state of the
arthouse/
indie scene these days, it can't be too surprising that a film like
Trans is left by the roadside...yet
Trans is exactly the sort of smallish, idiosyncratically personal movie that belongs in the arthouse loop; for various reasons it will never draw the
Happy, Texas-size crowd, but it will mesmerize the kind of audience that regularly takes a chance on something at a repertory house with an adventurous calendar." Of the film's distribution concerns, Brett Sokul of
Miami New Times wrote, "Despite the reams of praise, conventional industry wisdom saw
Trans as 'difficult,' i.e., not a reliable arthouse ticket-seller. It's an attitude that dramatizes the increasingly commercial pressures on the world of independent film, once a respite from the dictates of the box office but now often just as enslaved to it." The film was also aired in the U.S. on both
The Independent Film Channel Home media Trans was first released on DVD by Fox Lorber on November 20, 2001. The DVD features the film, a trailer, the soundtrack, and web links. It was re-released on DVD by Wellspring Media on December 26, 2006. ==Critical response==